


Mukashi Kana

by rainysora, shadhahvar



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-15 02:27:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20858714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainysora/pseuds/rainysora, https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadhahvar/pseuds/shadhahvar
Summary: Katsuki Yuuri's vacation retreat is rudely interrupted when someone tries to dart him. Finding himself on the run with the most handsome man in existence, he only wants to get home safely—but he ends up finding more than he bargained for when at Victor Nikiforov's, self confessed spy, side.





	Mukashi Kana

**Author's Note:**

> A collaboration done alongside the wonderful, amazing, sweet Secret Agent Sora ([who you can find here on Twitter](https://twitter.com/rainysorarts/)) for a fandom project. Please enjoy, and [follow this link to Sora's artwork](https://twitter.com/rainysorarts/status/1179458829710430208?s=20) to like, comment, and retweet!

Yuuri was taking a cup of tea at a bay-side table in the courtyard of his midline resort hotel when he heard a loud, distinctive _clink _of metal on porcelain. He looked up from his book, perplexed by the sound, only to see his teacup knocked on its side, tea spilling across the white tablecloth and a small projectile lying in the midst of the saturating black liquid. His first thought was that the tablecloth was going to stain. His second was wondering why a dart from an old-Earth movie appeared to be sitting in the middle of what had been an excellent cup of tea. He had no time for third thoughts as one of the waitstaff swept in and dropped a napkin over the stain, dart and all, and pulled Yuuri’s chair back from the table.

“I’m so sorry for the interruption, but we need to leave right now.”

“I don’t understand,” he said, flinching away as the server took hold of his arm and brought his hand with the book up in front of his chest. He felt as much as heard a dull thud of impact, staring down at his book in dismay as he was hauled away, stumbling along behind the server. There was another dart sticking out from its cover. He dropped the book in shock.

“What the hell’s going on?!”

The server jogged them through the hotel gardens, curving around to the back vehicle park. Blue eyes met his before turning away again. “You don’t know,” he said, and it wasn’t a question. “Have you received any strange messages lately? Any threats?”

“No! Nothing like that! I’m supposed to be here on vacation!” Yuuri tried digging in his heels to stop them, but a spray of dirt kicked up from the pathway beside them made him jump. “What was that?”

The server hummed a noncommittal sound. “Probably a warning shot. Look, maybe it’s a mistake, but someone thinks you have something they want. I recommend we get you off world as soon as possible to get you out of their reach.”

“You_ recommend_? Who _are_ you?”

The server flashed him a smile, silver hair covering one eye when he looked back to Yuuri. “A spy whose contact hasn’t shown. I didn’t expect anyone to make a move against a civilian, but now that they have, it’d be irresponsible not to ensure your safety. If you’ll trust me long enough to see you to the spaceport.”

Yuuri shouldn’t have said yes, but with adrenaline fading from his system and desperation and confusion ruling his mind, having at least one person with a plan of action to make it all stop was appealing. Climbing up behind a stranger on their hover-scooter and heading off into town was simply part of the process. 

Six hours later, he reflected on being stuck living out a spy adventure he’d never asked for just trying to get off-world.

“You’re sure that’s the only way?”

“Not the _only_ way,” his companion said, tapping a finger against his chin. “We could always trek through the sewage tunnels. They have quite an extensive network in this part of the planet.”

Victor—who insisted that wasn’t a codename—was either the best or worst spy in all of existence. Yuuri had yet to decide on which. How someone so breathtakingly gorgeous managed to be _subtle_ continued to elude him, but he had to admit so far they’d only been shot at the once, and that hadn’t been Victor’s fault.

“No sewers, no thanks! We can go the fancy boat party route. I’m just saying I don’t understand how that’s playing it safe.”

Victor shrugged, eyes dropping down to his commlink. “It’s the last place anyone'll be looking for us. Besides, it docks at the largest spaceport on planet.”

“You mean the only spaceport on planet.”

Victor flashed him a smile. “Exactly.”

With nothing else forthcoming, Yuuri threw up his hands and flopped back on the substandard bed in their second-rate motel, muttering something about misleading movies showing spies lounging in sumptuous rooms while discussing clever plans. Victor reached over to pat his knee in understanding.

“Next time it’ll be nothing but Empire Suites, I promise.”

Yuuri grimaced. “Next time, you say. There better not _be_ a next time.”

Victor laughed as he stood, pocketing his commlink. “Yuuri, I thought we were having fun!”

Yuuri tossed one of the terrible pillows at Victor’s head in retribution and settled into listening as Victor laid out their plans for the rest of the day.

Their first stop was a tuxedo rental store. Yuuri owned exactly two suits: his work suit that he wore daily, and his special occasion suit, which no longer fit. He'd last worn that one when he graduated from University. Being fit for a rental tuxedo while Victor clucked his tongue and held up three different ties that all looked like the same shade of blue was a whole new baffling experience. When they walked out carrying their purchases, he was only looking forward to their antics for the sake of seeing Victor all dressed up. Then Victor tucked his glasses away with a murmured apology and went about subtly changing the contours of Yuuri’s face with makeup, leaving him effectively blind to fine detail and finer assets.

“This is about the best I can get away with when I don’t have a prosthetic kit on hand,” he said, adding gel to Yuuri’s hair and brushing it back into a dramatic sweep. Yuuri tried not to squint, staring at Victor while Victor took him in.

“_Beautiful_.”

“Yes,” Yuuri said as he squinted anyway, “You are.”

“What?” Victor laughed, shaking his head and clasping Yuuri by the shoulders. “I was talking about you! Let me finish and we’ll head toward where we’re boarding.”

While Victor set to working on his own makeup, Yuuri wondered if it was technically possible to drown in his embarrassment, then decided that if it hadn’t happened yet, it probably wasn’t. He supposed he’d have to go the a fancy dinner boat party with Victor after all. 

He even managed to avoid further embarrassing himself, aside from when he stepped off the curb he didn’t see and went stumbling, up until Victor’s seemingly random turn in conversation caught him off guard.

“Yuuri, what are your thoughts on marriage?”

Yuuri considered the question. “I don’t mind the idea if I find the right person. It’s just… Work’s draining enough, and I barely have time for my dog, so how would I…” He trailed off, catching sight of Victor trying not to smile. He squinted to make sure. “What?”

“I meant as cover. We could do the newlywed thing and say we’re here for our honeymoon. No one’s surprised when all newlyweds want to do is stick together. Or we could be newly engaged. Either one’s plausible.”

“... Oh.” He hadn’t even thought about a cover story, fingers curling into fists as he cleared his throat. “Wouldn’t we need rings?”

“Mm, plain bands should work.” Victor reached into his inner breast pocket with a wink, opening his hand to reveal two rings threaded onto a golden chain.

“You’ve had those this whole time?” 

“They’re always on me.” Victor opened the necklace clasp and pulled the chain through the rings.

“So you keep two rings on hand just in case?” He accepted one from Victor and slid it onto his own ring finger. His thumb stroked over the smooth surface, appreciating the warmth of the metal. 

After a beat of silence, Victor smiled, eyes dropping away from their study of Yuuri’s hand. “They’re more of a lucky charm. I like keeping them close.” He shrugged, sliding the other ring on. “I’m a bit nostalgic, I guess.”

_Nostalgic for what? _Yuuri didn’t want to intrude further by asking. “I see.” He flexed his fingers for an excuse to look away, glad the ring at least fit. He wouldn’t have to worry about it falling off and losing something precious to Victor.

“Now, married or engaged?”

Yuuri closed his eyes. “Engaged,” he said, feeling the strange echo of rightness behind it. He could make that work. They’d play at being newly engaged, eat tasty finger foods, sip on some champagne (sip, not _chug_), and make it to the spaceport. Then Yuuri would go home and forget any of this ever happened and never take another vacation again.

\---

They ran into an agent Victor recognised halfway to their destination. Victor handled it with the same resourcefulness he’d demonstrated before, which was supposed to explain why Yuuri had a hand to either side of Victor’s face and a knee between his legs. Yuuri wasn't sure it was a sufficient explanation. He also didn't feel like lodging a complaint.

Here he was pretending to make out with the hottest man he could remember speaking with in his life and a greedy part of himself wanted it to be _real_. His vacation had been such a disaster, why not find a silver lining? Literally silver, he thought, taking in the play of twinkling deck-lights off Victor's hair.

Unaware of Yuuri’s thoughts, Victor slid his hands over his shoulders and offered him a small smile.

“We don’t need to kiss. Staying close is enough.”

Yuuri licked his lips, figuring he had nothing to lose. “What if I said I wanted to?”

Victor met his gaze, giving him a searching look, blue eyes dark. When he smiled it was a much softer expression than usual, his voice deeper, unfairly warm.

“Then I’d say please do.”

It was permission enough for Yuuri to bridge the distance between them to claim Victor’s lips with a heated press of his own. Victor kissed as beautifully and naturally as he wore his rental tuxe, smelling faintly of makeup and a subtle cologne and his own personal musk mixed with the salt in the air. Yuuri drank it all in, licking into Victor’s mouth as his fingers cradled the back of Victor’s head, tasting a hint of the champagne from earlier.

He didn’t seek friction until Victor hauled him closer, grinding against his leg. Their kisses grew more passionate, Yuuri exploring the curve of Victor’s neck as Victor breathed out in a soft gasp, Yuuri swallowing his answering groan. The pretense of holding back fell away as kissing wound up just shy of heavy petting, hands roaming and caressing, and Yuuri palmed the curve of Victor’s backside, hungry for the sound of Victor’s wordless approval. Yuuri didn’t realise how thoroughly they’d gotten off track until Victor pulled back with an unsatisfied groan and cupped Yuuri’s face in his hands.

“As much as I’d love to continue this, we’re about to dock.”

Yuuri huffed, irritation mixing with his lingering endorphin high. “That went by way too quickly.”

Victor laughed, catching Yuuri’s hand in his and squeezing. “Tell me about it,” he said. “I promise if you’re still interested after we have you home safe, I’ll be happy to revisit this at length.”

For a moment, he almost wanted to hope. “Making promises you can’t keep, Victor?”

Victor pulled his head back, eyes serious. “Not with you.”

Yuuri opened his mouth, then closed it, offering a weak smile in the face of his odd sincerity. “That sounds suspiciously like flattery.”

Victor shrugged, smile turned enigmatic. “Does it, now.”

Side by side, they headed toward the crowded interior of the ship, blending into the sea of well-dressed people heading down the docks toward the sprawling spaceport beyond.

Victor ducked into one of the tourist-trap stores after they’d downloaded their boarding passes to his commlink. He had his jacket off and looped over a shoulder with his tie loosened around his neck. Yuuri was distracted enough to not see what Victor ended up buying until Victor passed him the shopping bag and ushered him into a restroom stall to change.

“What a glorious life.”

“We make do,” Victor said with a light laugh, leaving to keep an eye on the entrance while Yuuri changed. 

He sighed, unknotting his tie and letting it hang loose around his neck. Shrugging out of his jacket and hanging it off the hooks on the back of the door, he unbuttoned his shirt, squinting suspiciously at the bright coloured fabric he saw poking out of the bag. “I don’t think that counts as subtle,” he grumbled to himself. 

Creaking from behind prompted Yuuri to turn his head back, brow furrowed, trying to trace the sound. He had his glasses again, which meant he had a perfectly clear view of the man crouched at the top of his stall. As their eyes met, the man threw himself down into the stall. Yuuri shoved against his chest to knock him back and twisted his wrist violently, trying to break his assailant’s grip on his arm.

“What the hell? Victor!” With the door at his back, Yuuri fumbled blindly with the latch, dodging an attempted grab only to end up trapped back by the toilet.

“Calling for backup, Agent Katsuki?” The man smiled, eyes narrowed with predatory pleasure. “You really have lost your edge.”

There was no time to respond to the confusing statement as the man threw himself forward again, grappling with Yuuri. He tried to pull Yuuri into a headlock, hampered by the close quarters and Yuuri’s own staunch resistance, raking his heel down the side of the man’s shin. He cursed and shoved forward, knocking Yuuri back into the corner. His head snapped against the plasma screen currently showing one of the southern beaches.

Yuuri saw stars, gritting his teeth and blindly lashing out to keep the man from getting a hold on him. A button popped off his shirt in the confusion, registering as a distant regret that they’d never get their money back from the suit rentals now.

One moment, he was being hauled forward, bringing his elbow up to jab into the diaphragm of his attacker. The next, there was a third body in the same stall, a knee making impact with the man’s temple as Victor launched himself down off the side. Yuuri wasn’t sure what happened, only that as he pulled free, Victor was there with his arm wrapped around the man’s chest. He was limp in Victor’s arms.

“Victor, what the hell is going on?” His relief in seeing Victor didn’t banish the acrid taste of bile at the back of his throat or the adrenaline coursing through his system, leaving him hypertuned to their surroundings. He barely managed to keep himself from shouting the question.

Victor’s expression was almost frightfully cold, staring down at the man who’d attacked Yuuri. He nodded his head to the door, hefting the man’s weight with a grunt and unceremoniously propping him up on the toilet. “They caught up faster than I thought they would.”

Yuuri shuffled toward the door, grasping for the lock. He froze with his hand on it, grimacing and setting his shoulders. “He called me an agent. I thought you said people were chasing after me based on bad information.” He met Victor’s eyes with a intent look of his own. Fear and adrenaline sharpened into a determined need to know. “He knew who I was.”

Victor’s lips pressed into a thin line, an old pain flashing through his impossibly blue eyes. “Yuuri, it’s not that simple—”

“Don’t! There never was a contact, was there?” He trembled with repressed emotion, suddenly sure of this fact.

“Yuuri, we need to go.”

“Victor, how am I supposed to trust you when you don’t even trust me with the truth?”

This time the pain was unmistakable, along with a deeper anger. It wasn’t aimed at Yuuri, as far as he could tell, but directed at something else. Victor’s eyes flicked to the unconscious man on the toilet, then to Yuuri. His shoulders lowered and he breathed in deep, exhaling long and slow. “Fine. Fair enough.” Victor’s tone turned formal, almost detached. “Katsuki Yuuri. Do you confirm that you want full and unrestricted access to your memory record, along with all associated damages that may incur?”

“What?” Yuuri jerked his head back, confusion throwing him off. Those were the words right before the sign-off line on a memory-return contract. Those sorts of things were only issued to people who’d had a memory-block instated at some point—but that was impossible. “There’s no way. I’d know if—I’d know.” He insisted.

Victor’s smile was tired, his eyes sad in an uncomfortable way. “The function of any good memory-block is that you don’t know it’s been instated. Yuuri, we need to get moving.”

He opened the door, turning away from Victor to peer outside, needing the time to think. No one was there, and so he slipped out, too frazzled to think of grabbing the clothes still hanging off the back of the stall door. Victor followed after him, closing the stall carefully behind them. He pulled a thin card out of his pocket, using it to manipulate the lock to keep the door closed. His hand found Yuuri’s elbow after, giving him a gentle squeeze even as he encouraged him forward.

“The only people who can lift a memory-block are the ones signed on the legal contract. It’s your decision, Yuuri, but we need to get you off world regardless. Trust me on that much, please.” 

Yuuri nodded, regretting it as his head pounded with a fresh burst of pain. He winced, reaching up to explore the bump that was forming on the back of his head with tentative fingers. “I do.”

Victor breathed out in a small sigh. “Thank you.”

“No, I mean—I confirm I want access. And I do trust you.” His hand fall away from his head as Victor guided them toward a side door looking out toward part of the tarmac. “Against my better judgment.”

Victor laughed, a short, sharp sound. “You’ve always surprised me, Yuuri.” He pulled out his commlink, holding it up by the doors, speaking in a murmur. The panel to the left flashed green, the doors unlocking with a click. Victor pushed through, walking like he knew where he was going. Yuuri followed after, trying to make sense of an increasingly more bizarre reality. “Repeat after me, please. I, Katsuki Yuuri, under my own will and with full awareness of the consequences, override all existing memory-blocks currently placed on me. I accept that this process cannot be reversed without installation and activation of a new memory-block. I acknowledge that the current one will pass out of my system after the nanotech components finish breaking down following the final activation phrase.”

Victor lead them down a set of stairs and into a lower hall, then through a door out onto the tarmac. He hadn’t let go of Yuuri’s arm, and his other hand was pressed to his ear.

Yuuri’s spinning head was only feeling worse. “Okay, can you slow down? One sentence at a time, please.”

Victor glanced his way and nodded once, a sharp movement of his head as he started them walking parallel to the spaceport. He slipped his hand down to take hold of Yuuri’s, looking forward as he repeated the sentences, one at a time. Yuuri said them in turn, feeling half like it was a bizarre sort of wedding vow.

As Victor picked up into a jog, moving away from the sprawling complex, Yuuri pushed himself to keep up. His nerves jangled as Victor listened to whoever was talking in his ear, changing direction without warning and picking up their pace to a flat out run. As they ran, Victor surprised Yuuri, speaking very deliberately in an older dialect of Japanese. “_Kogane sabi, wakaba ni shinobu, mukashi kana_.”

“You speak pre-space flight Japanese?”

Victor laughed, an abbreviated sound as they raced on through the private spaceship sector closest to the spaceport buildings. Ground crews were busy all around them, attending to recent arrivals and prepping for take-offs. “You do, too! Now weren’t you repeating after me?”

Yuuri stumbled through the words, heart pounding in his chest from exertion and growing anxiety. Victor slowed down as they approached one of the mid-sized cruisers, a new luxury model from its appearance. “Is something supposed to happen now?”

Victor still held his hand, reaching for the access panel for the cargo hold on the underbelly of the ship. “You still need the final activation phrase, but there’s a good chance the overload of memory return could knock you out.” His fingers flew over the panel, typing in a sequence too fast for Yuuri to track. “We could wait.”

“No.” He wanted this confusion to end. Yuuri squeezed Victor’s hand, just shy of painful. “Please.”

The cargo bay doors slid open, the loading dock extending down as Victor met Yuuri’s gaze. His eyes were apologetic as he faced Yuuri, tugging out his earpiece. “Then repeat after me,” he said, voice strong and clear to be heard over the sounds on the tarmac, over the roaring of engines in the distance and the winds and vehicles all around. “Katsuki-Nikiforov.”

“Katsuki-Nikiforov?” The uncertainty of his words was consumed by a pressure building in the back of Yuuri’s skull after he spoke them, an overwhelming confusion of images and sounds and scents and tastes hitting all at once. Yuuri’s knees buckled at the onslaught, his hands coming up to press against his temples and hold his head together.

Victor was there. In so many memories he was there: smiling, laughing, serious as he looked over a dossier. There with his blue eyes and silver hair, there with a dog who looked like an overgrown Vicchan, there curled around Yuuri when he was unable to sleep at night, passed out by his side. Two rings, golden, and a frozen winter evening, with Yuuri blushing and determined, and Victor struck dumb.

_I like keeping them close. I’m nostalgic, I guess._

As the darkness claimed him, he reached for Victor, tears of pain streaming from his eyes unchecked. “You,” he said. “It was always you.” 

He woke an indeterminate time later. Yuuri sat up with a start, his head a jumble of disconnected thoughts and half-memories. He stared at the opulent room around him, plush seats and furnishings all edged in silvers and golds and beautiful hardwoods. There was no sign of Victor. He shoved off the sofa he lay on to stumble toward the archway in the center of the forward facing wall.

“Careful.” Victor stepped through, still wearing his suit pants and button down, his hair an artful mess. “We’re traveling between gates right now. We should be out on the other side in another five hours or so.”

Yuuri stared at him, trying to sort through memories that felt surreal for their broken clarity. He shook his head, ignoring the pain, marching over to Victor. As he came closer, Victor hesitantly held his arms open at his sides. Yuuri didn’t hesitate. He launched forward, arms circling Victor. He clung to him, uncaring of the tears threatening his eyes. He didn’t speak until he felt Victor’s arms encircle him in turn.

“We’re engaged.”

Victor’s breath caught in his throat. His arms tightened around Yuuri, pulling him closer, pressing a kiss to his head. “I know.”

“I didn’t remember you.”

“I know.”

“How? How could that be possible?”

“Our memory-block contracts hadn’t been updated yet. The last mission went south so fast, and the medical staff ruled that the extent of your injuries was such that remembering would cause additional trauma…” Victor squeezed him even tighter. “You almost died.”

He heard what wasn’t said: how Victor had lost him anyway, and still been there, somehow, when Yuuri needed him. Frustration at the unfairness of it all churned in his chest, next to a warmth and love he recognised had been haunting his dreams for years. “I didn’t,” he said, because there was nothing else to say. He pulled his head back, refusing to let go, but searching for anything else to say. Apologies weren’t going to help; this wasn’t either of their faults. “This is… fancier than I expected.”

Victor chuckled, a soft sound. “I promised you the Empire Suite next time, didn’t I?”

He startled into a huff of laughter. “Yeah, you did. You know I never minded where we were, as long as it was with you.”

Victor stepped back with visible reluctance, taking Yuuri’s hand in his. He lifted it to his lips, pressing a kiss to his knuckles. “That sounds suspiciously like flattery.” He winked, Yuuri blinking as he remembered saying the same thing to Victor only hours before.

“Does it, now?” He pulled Victor close, turning his hand to press a kiss to Victor’s knuckles in turn. “I meant it as more of a proposal. Seeing as how it’s technically still my vacation, and you said there’s another five hours until we’re out the far side of this gate, there’s another proposal I wouldn’t mind making involving that other thing you promised me.” Yuuri smiled at him with all the fondness in his heart.

“Oh,” Victor said, eyes widening before he smiled at Yuuri in turn. “Is that so?”

Yuuri didn’t bother answering with words. When he leaned in to kiss Victor, it was with all the bittersweet joy of rediscovery and heartache alongside hope and tentative joy. 

**Author's Note:**

> Sora is perhaps the sweetest person on the planet, and such a wonderful collaborator, I'm grateful to have had the chance to work with them! Look at that amazing work!
> 
> For more of Sora's fantastic artwork, once again check out their Twitter ([rainysorarts](https://twitter.com/rainysorarts/))! Be wowed! Be amazed! Enjoy the incredible eye-candy!


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